


50 Things Men Should Know (Or, How Adrien Agreste Becomes a Man)

by ghostlyhamburger



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste Needs Help, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, F/M, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27353128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlyhamburger/pseuds/ghostlyhamburger
Summary: Adrien Agreste has been sheltered for too long. Now 20, with his father in prison, he's decided it's time he becomes a man--so he turns to the internet to help.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 150
Kudos: 320





	1. Swim/Throw a Ball

_Swim_

Adrien was 20 years old, and he still felt like a child.

His life had been planned for him, dictated by his father and father’s secretary. He never had to learn how to do things that most other people knew—he had staff to cook for him and take care of his house.

But then he learned his father was Hawkmoth.

Capturing him had been the easy part. The trial was what he was used to—orderly, people telling him what to do and how to handle himself. Even arranging the burial for his mother was straightforward enough. It wasn’t until afterwards that he felt broken, not knowing what to do with himself.

He had his family’s fortune in his hands, a large mansion he didn’t want, and all the free time in the world. It felt like _hell_.

Adrien spent a few weeks just playing video games and pigging out with Plagg. He didn’t bother transforming—he couldn’t bear to see Ladybug right now, had refused to learn her identity even once their enemy was behind bars. How could he tell his Lady that he was the reason the fight had gone on so long, because he was too blind to notice his own father was Hawkmoth?

His friends kept sending him messages, asking how he was doing, asking if he wanted to hang out. He ignored every single one, until…

**Marinette:** _we’re all getting together for Kim’s birthday at the pool. it won’t feel right if you’re not there_ _☹_

**Kim:** _bro its my bday come hang out_

Adrien’s friends had always made _him_ feel special, wanted on his birthday. He could at least give them the same courtesy.

“Going out?” Plagg asked as Adrien dug through his closet for a swimsuit to wear beneath his clothes.

“I have to at some point,” he replied. “Might as well start now.”

If he’d looked closely at his kwami, he would have seen him smile.

**

Adrien arrived at the public pool to see all his friends, even Chloe, gathered around a set of deck chairs, sharing drinks and chatting while a few more people swam laps in the water. Everyone was in bathing suits already, so before he could be seen, Adrien ducked into a changing room to remove his street clothes.

Walking out in just his swim trunks, he headed towards his friends with just a bit of apprehension slowing down his steps. Marinette was the first one to glance his way, and he tensed as she looked back to everyone else, saying something he couldn’t hear. He wasn’t ready to be swarmed by everyone.

But only Nino stood up and walked over to him, greeting him by swinging an arm over his shoulders in a hug. “It’s good to see you again, dude.”

“Thanks,” Adrien replied, smiling. “What about…?”

“Oh, everyone else?” Nino asked. “Yeah, Mari suggested that we not all rush you at once, but everyone’s really happy you made it.”

Adrien grinned, relief flooding through him. Of course Marinette would have understood how he felt. She was just awesome that way.

He let Nino lead him to the chairs and he took a seat beside Marinette, flashing her a grateful smile. Her cheeks flushed, becoming as pink as the bikini she wore, but she returned the smile.

“So, I keep getting reports that Ladybug is patrolling the city every night, but no Chat Noir,” Alya was telling the group, pausing her words to wave at Adrien. “I can’t figure out what happened, she stays on the roofs unless someone needs help, and then she doesn’t stick around to talk.”

“You _know_ Ladybug knows you’re her number one fan,” Marinette said. “If she wanted people to know what was going on, she’d reach out to you. She’s probably got her reasons for what she’s doing.”

Adrien’s smile fell slightly as guilt settled in his stomach. Was his Lady going out and patrolling just to keep the peace, or—he hoped—was she looking for him?

“I wish we knew what happened, though,” Alya said with a groan. “Like, did she break up with Chat? Did he leave? What?”

“He wouldn’t just _leave_ ,” Marinette snapped, unusually upset at the suggestion. “But…yeah, I wish we knew what happened to him too. It’s not the same without him around.”

Once, Marinette had loved Chat Noir, but he couldn’t return her feelings. Was she still holding a torch for him? And did the people of Paris really care that much about him?

“Hey!” Kim called from the pool, breaking Adrien out of his reverie and getting everyone else’s attention. “Come on you guys, the water’s fine! Let’s play some Marco Polo!”

Most of the group dove in, or cannonballed in, but Adrien carefully walked in the shallow end steps of the water.

“Come on, Agreste, just jump in!” Kim called.

Adrien shook his head. “I’d rather not drown today, thanks.”

“Can’t you swim?”

Chloe snorted from where she sat at the edge of the pool. “As if Gabriel would have ever let him learn.”

“I can swim!” Adrien replied indignantly. “Just…not really well. I probably wouldn’t _actually_ drown.”

Kim dove under the water and swam the length of the pool, popping up beside Adrien a moment later. “Wanna learn?”

He gave his friend a grateful smile. “You know what? Yeah.”

As it turned out, Kim was a great teacher, patiently showing Adrien different swimming strokes and guiding him through how to do them. Everyone else cheered him on, not a single person judging him for not knowing something so…basic.

It felt _great_.

By the end of the day, he wasn’t really a strong swimmer, but he could take a few laps across the pool without flailing. And Kim offered him more lessons at any time.

“Plagg,” Adrien asked when he was alone in his room again. “What else am I missing that everyone else knows how to do?”

“You really want a list?” the kwami asked. “I think the internet has a bunch of them.”

After some Google searches, Adrien ended up on a website with a list of _50 Things Every Man Should Be Able To Do_. He was a man, wasn’t he? And it wasn’t _his_ fault that his father never taught him anything.

“I’m going to learn everything on this list,” he told Plagg after reading through the first ten. It seemed like solid advice.

Then, maybe, he’d have more of an idea what to do with his life.

_Throw a Ball_

Marinette missed her partner so bad it hurt.

They’d won! They’d beaten Hawkmoth! But then instead of meeting at their usual spot to do their reveal…Chat never showed up.

She went out every single night, hoping she’d see him, but he never came. She stopped letting herself be seen by the public, knowing that if they saw her face, they’d see her barely keeping it together, close to tears without her partner.

On top of that, Adrien became a recluse. That at least was understandable, considering everything he went through. Still, he was one of Marinette’s closest friends, and it hurt that he went missing at the same time as Chat.

She never stopped texting Adrien, letting him know that _no one_ blamed him, and that he was missed and _wanted._ Finally, he showed up at Kim’s birthday unannounced.

And when Marinette saw him shirtless, muscles a little less defined but still looking like an Adonis, her old crush came rushing back with full force. At least this time she could string together sentences around him.

The next day, she got a text from Nino.

**Nines:** _you free today? Adrien called and wants to hang out_

**Marinette:** _I’m free. when and where?_

**

She met Nino, Alya, and Adrien in the park outside her house, and Adrien explained his project: the list of things to learn, and how he was determined to learn _all_ of them. And today’s task: throwing a ball.

“So, you never played catch as a kid?” Alya asked incredulously. Nino tossed her a baseball and she idly threw it between her hands.

“No, I wasn’t allowed to have toys that could break anything, so no balls,” Adrien replied. “And—I know _how_ to throw things, but I don’t know if there’s proper form or anything…”

Marinette’s heart _hurt_ for him. “No, it’s just throw and catch,” she said. “This is good! Gives us time to catch up.”

“ _Catch_ up,” Adrien repeated with a grin. “Nice.”

Alya tossed him the ball, a soft underhand throw. He threw it to Nino, and soon the ball was idly being passed between the four as they filled Adrien in on the events of the past month.

“So, by the way, Mar,” Alya said, tossing her friend the ball. “Do you have any idea what happened to Chat Noir?”

“W-why would I know?” Marinette asked with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t know him or anything.”

“You were friends back in lycee, weren’t you?”

Marinette shook her head, grasping the ball harder. “No. He visited me a few times, that’s it. Let’s—let’s talk about something else.”

She threw the ball at Adrien, a bit harder than she meant to, and he didn’t react in time. The baseball hit his forehead dead on.

“Oh my god,” Marinette said, paling as she moved towards him. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”

“I’m fine,” he said, smiling at her in that way that had always melted her heart. “I wasn’t paying attention, it’s my fault.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I’m the one who threw it at you,” she responded. “Can I see?”

He bent down slightly so she could get a good look at the forming bump on his head.

“That’s going to bruise,” she remarked with a frown. “I’m so, so sorry…”

To her surprise, he laughed. “It’s okay. This is all part of the experience, right? Getting hurt?”

“Y-yeah,” Marinette replied, and before she could think about her words, she added, “And so is this.”

She pursed her lips and placed a quick, light kiss to the injury. She then turned away from him, her face bright red as she glared at a laughing Alya.

“Thanks, Marinette,” he said, smiling when she dared glance at him again. “It feels so much better now.”

“A-anytime,” she managed to say. “So, um. Your turn to throw.”

The four spent the afternoon tossing the ball back and forth and talking about university and side jobs and future plans until darkness started to fall. Marinette headed home feeling happier than she had been in weeks.


	2. Play Bar Games/Craft a Cocktail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone in this is of age to drink in France.

_Play Bar Games_

Adrien invited his friends to his house for a night in to enjoy some drinks and try out the next couple things on his list.

He wasn’t sure what a bar game really entailed, so he looked up even more ideas online. He ordered a couple of things, rush shipping for the next weekend, so he could be sure he got every “game” perfectly right.

Nino, Alya, and Marinette showed up Friday evening to find that the mansion’s foyer was now decorated with a pool table.

Adrien greeted them all with a wide smile, dressed in a casual T-shirt and jeans. “Hey! I’m glad you could make it.”

“Dude, when your best friend decides out of the blue to stop being a recluse, you make time,” Nino replied with a grin and a fist bump.

“It really is good to see you again,” Marinette said, giving him a sincere smile. “We were kind of scared last weekend was the only time you’d…well, never mind.”

“So what’s your crazy plan for tonight?” Alya asked.

“The next thing on the list is learn to play bar games,” Adrien said. “And—I don’t really feel okay going out to a bar yet, so I figured I’d bring it here. There’s beer and liquor in the dining room, and the cook’s going to make some traditional pub food for us later.”

“Awesome,” Nino said as he headed through the doors to grab some beers. “What do you guys want?”

“Anything’s good!” Alya replied. “So, Sunshine, what do you want to try playing first?”

“I have no idea,” he admitted.

Nino rejoined the group, balancing four cans and carrying a fistful of sharp darts. “Do you have a dartboard?”

“No,” Adrien replied, carefully taking one of the darts. “I actually had a different idea for these.”

He turned and threw the dart high, up the grand staircase, sinking it into the massive portrait of Gabriel and a younger Adrien. It hit dead on Gabriel’s left eye.

“Whoo, go Sunshine!” Alya cheered. “I don’t think I can throw that far, but let me try!” She took a dart and a beer and ran halfway up the stairs before throwing a dart, landing it in Gabriel’s knee.

The others followed her up the stairs as Nino passed out the beers and the remaining darts. Soon, Gabriel’s side of the painting was littered with darts sticking out of him—a vast improvement, they all agreed.

“Last two,” Nino said. “Adrien, Marinette, you should take these.”

Adrien’s dart landed in the center of Gabriel’s forehead, but Marinette’s ended up much lower— _right_ between his legs. The guys winced as they saw it.

“Can’t say he doesn’t deserve that,” Adrien muttered, still frowning.

“How about some pool?” Nino asked, turning away from the portrait. “Did you buy a table just for this?”

“Uh, yeah,” Adrien admitted sheepishly. “I mean, I don’t really have anything better to do with the money…”

Nino just shrugged. “Hey, Als, wanna help me beat his ass in his first game of pool?”

Alya chugged the rest of her beer in one determined gulp. “Let’s do this.”

“I guess we’re on a team, then,” Marinette said, smiling at Adrien. “And, I’m sorry, but we’re going to lose. I’ve only played this once…”

“That’s fine,” he said, returning her smile.

“M!” Alya cried suddenly. “Let’s go get the next round of drinks!” She grabbed her friend’s wrist, dragging her down the stairs and away from Adrien.

Nino headed to the pool table. “So, do you know _anything_ about how to play?”

“Hit the balls with the sticks and get them into the holes?” Adrien asked.

“Yeah, pretty much that.” Nino grabbed the triangle rack and set up. “Use the white ball to hit the other ones in. I’ll explain as we go.”

The game was a lot more fun than Adrien had been expecting. Alya and Nino won, but it was pretty close, and it was a good time.

Plus, at one point Marinette had bent really far over the table to get a shot, and Adrien had…enjoyed the view. Marinette was a good friend and he didn’t see her as anything more than that, but that didn’t mean he was blind.

And the way her butt looked when she was bent over in her shorts was a sight anyone would be blessed to see.

“We are not drunk enough,” Alya announced as she finished off her second beer. “Sunshine, you got some plastic cups and a ping pong ball?”

“Uh, yeah, actually,” he replied, gesturing towards the dining room. “I pretty much just got anything the internet suggested.”

“Sweet,” Alya replied. “Beer pong, same teams. Nino, help me set it up!”

“What is this?” Adrien asked, following the group to the dining room. Nino and Alya got busy setting up plastic cups on the table.

“It’s an American game,” Marinette replied. “One of Alya’s favorites. You bounce the ball into the cups, and then drink. First one to get rid of them all wins.”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” he said, grinning. “I don’t know that it technically counts as a bar game…”

“It’s a party game, close enough,” she said. “But if you don’t want to…”

“No, I want to try it,” he said. “Mostly I just wanted to have fun with my friends, so this is great.”

“All set!” Alya announced. “Grab your drinks!”

“We’re not drinking from those?” Adrien asked.

“After the ball’s been in all our gross hands and all over the floor? Ew, no. Just get something good and take a drink every time you land a shot.”

He smiled, an idea suddenly coming to mind. “Hey, Marinette. What do you like to drink?”

_Craft a Cocktail_

Marinette blushed, despite telling herself that this was _not_ flirting, he was just being friendly. “Um. Something light and sweet, I guess.”

Adrien nodded and moved to the bottles of liquor on the table, hesitating as he looked over them. Alya approached him and whispered something Marinette couldn’t hear, before he started pouring various things into a glass.

A moment later, he slid a glass full of something bright green towards Marinette. “I hope this is good.”

She took a sip, and immediately cringed as she got a mouthful of simple syrup. “Um…it’s…very sweet?”

“It sucks, doesn’t it?” he asked, his face falling. “Uh, sorry. Make a cocktail is one of the things on my list, but I guess I can’t get it right the first time.”

“It’s fine, really!” she said. “Here, let me make something for you, maybe that’ll help?”

“Sure,” he replied. “Uh, do you mind if I try this, though? I want to know how badly I messed up.”

Marinette passed over the drink, and Adrien started coughing after one sip.

“Oh. Wow. That’s bad.”

“You’ll get better,” she encouraged him with a smile as she glanced over the bottles on the table. She grabbed the cognac and a bottle of Cointreau, starting to mix her concoction. “Here. A Sidecar. Dad taught me how to make this.”

Adrien tried a sip, and the strong but sweet flavors made him feel warm immediately. “That’s really good.”

Marinette blushed. “Um, my favorite cocktail is a Kir, it’s really easy, just two ingredients.” She grabbed the two liquors required and placed them beside an empty glass before standing back.

He carefully poured the drink, stirring it together before handing it to Marinette. She took a long sip.

“Perfect,” she murmured, smiling widely.

“Let’s play!” Alya called. “We didn’t set this up for nothing!”

Marinette had plenty of practice with beer pong, as Alya insisted it was the best part of any party before clothes started coming off. The drink in her hand didn’t hinder her aim too much, and pretty soon she and Adrien had absolutely _smoked_ their friends.

“Nice job, Marinette!” Adrien said, holding out a hand to her. She bumped her fist against his, not even thinking about the small gesture, until she realized his hand and hers were both bare, that this was _Adrien_ and not _Chat_ standing beside her.

She dropped her hand, glancing at Alya and Nino, desperately trying to think of something, _anything_ , else. She wanted to focus on her _friends_ , not think about her partner.

Luckily, Adrien’s bodyguard walked in the room at that moment and gave a nod to Adrien.

“We should move the cups,” he said. “Food’s ready.”

**

After dinner, the group decided to relocate their party to Adrien’s room, so they had more places to sit and be comfortable. Each one of them brought an armful of liquor bottles, basically creating a bar on top of his foosball table.

They sat in a circle, Adrien and Marinette on his couch, Alya and Nino lounging on the floor in front of them.

“Never have I ever...watched the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie all the way through,” Nino said, smirking as they all drank.

“Dude, you said I was good in it,” Adrien said, throwing a pillow at him. “Can’t believe my friend is a liar.”

“Hey, you were great, but everything else sucked,” he replied. “I’ve never made it to the end!”

“Oh, we are so fixing that,” Alya said. “Never have I ever done parkour.”

The other three all drank.

“Okay, I expected the guys, but M?” she asked. “When in the heck do you have _time_?”

“I saw some tricks online and Manon wanted me to do them,” she lied smoothly. “It’s…really fun. Okay, never have I ever drunk texted an ex.”

Adrien had a drink.

“Not fair,” Alya pointed out. “You don’t _have_ an ex.”

“I dated Luka!”

“For like, five minutes!”

“Fine!” Marinette said, rolling her eyes. “Never have I ever…kissed a girl.”

“Wanna fix that?” Alya asked, waggling her eyebrows after taking a sip.

A kiss did sound like a good idea to drunk Marinette, so she shrugged and nodded. Alya scooted closer and put a hand on her knee as she leaned close and planted her lips on hers. It was a short and sweet kiss, simple lips on lips, but it was enough to get Nino to let out a wolf whistle.

“Your turn, Hot Stuff,” Marinette said as she pulled back and glanced at Adrien.

“Never have I ever, uh…played a stripping game,” he said, though he blushed red right after the words came out of his mouth.

Alya and Nino had a drink, while Marinette leaned closer to him, feeling her pulse pounding in her head. “Wanna fix that?”

“ _Yes!_ ” Alya cried. “New rules, instead of taking a drink, take off a piece of clothing! And never have I ever ditched class in school.”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she pulled off her shirt, grateful that she’d worn a fairly modest bra beneath.

Two rounds later, and everyone was down to just their underwear. Marinette couldn’t help but eye Adrien every chance she got, her drunk brain screaming at her to just rest her head on his chest and feel those pecs against her cheek.

“Never have I ever snuck out without my parents knowing,” Alya said.

Marinette glanced down at herself, just in panties and a bra, and said, “Maybe we should stop? I’m not really good with getting naked in front of you guys right now. Too drunk.”

“Yeah, okay,” Alya said. “No worries.”

Marinette glanced at Adrien, and for half a second thought he might have been staring at her chest before he smiled and his gaze shifted to hers. “I could put on a movie and we can just relax,” he said. “And you’re all welcome to stay here tonight.”

“Yes. Movie. Good idea,” Marinette said, relaxing into the couch cushions. Adrien stood to set up the TV, setting it to Netflix before tossing the remote to Nino, and when he came back he sat a little closer to Marinette.

She fell asleep partway through the movie, not even noticing that she rested against Adrien’s side, still only half dressed. She was still completely out of it when Adrien shifted to stand up and tuck a blanket over her before he went to bed.

She would wake up hung over as hell, but for the night, she slept soundly and comfortably, warm happiness settled within her chest.


	3. Parallel Park/Compose a Photograph

_Parallel Park_

Parallel parking was a basic part of driving, and yet Adrien had never done it. He had a license, but parking wasn’t tested. He was only supposed to drive in case of emergencies, anyways—he had his driver for routine trips.

Still, he knew how the streets could get crowded, and he figured it was something he _should_ know. So he sent a message to the Gorilla—Bruno, he reminded himself. He needed to grow up and call the man by his actual name. He asked if Bruno could teach him how to parallel park.

His driver set up two bright orange cones in the large driveway of the mansion, and Adrien hopped into the way too expensive car to try and park between them. Bruno stood outside of the car and waved him through the process.

He ran over the cones 9 times, and quickly understood why he was practicing in the driveway.

When he finally parked the car just right, he stepped out and noticed Bruno was sweating slightly, having been standing outside in the hot sun.

“Do you want to take a break and get some water?” he asked. Bruno nodded gratefully and followed him into the house.

Adrien headed straight for the kitchen. At least he could grab a glass of water on his own.

As he handed it to Bruno, he asked curiously, “How did I ever pass my driving test without learning this? It would’ve been impossible to park _anywhere_.”

The driver set his face in an imitation of Gabriel’s stoic look as a response.

Adrien sighed. “He rigged the test for me, didn’t he? Never actually wanted me driving.”

Bruno nodded, before patting his hand on his own chest.

“Yeah, I like having you around,” he replied with a grin. “Not just for driving me places. You’re a cool guy.”

Bruno smiled.

Adrien got his own glass of water and stared into the rippling surface. “Did you know who he was?”

Bruno shook his head, but then reached out for the young man. He hesitated before placing his large hand on Adrien’s, gently tapping his ring.

“You know I’m Chat Noir?” Nod. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

He gave a wry smile and took a sip of his water.

“Okay, bad phrasing, but—you never even let me know you knew. Why?”

He didn’t reply, just raised an eyebrow at Adrien like he so often did to let him draw his own conclusions.

“Well—thank you,” he said softly, finally drinking his water. “You know, when I was little, I used to wish sometimes you were my father.”

Bruno nodded.

Adrien laughed. “Did you know everything about me, or are you just going to say you did?”

He smiled, chuckling in the silent way he did.

“You’ve definitely been there for me more than Father was,” Adrien mused. “I’m sorry I called you Gorilla for so long.”

Bruno slumped his shoulders forward, slouching in a very gorilla-like stance, making Adrien laugh again.

“You know, I don’t think I’m going to stay here,” he said, glancing around the large kitchen. “It’s just you and me and the chef now, and…this place is too big. Plus, I _should_ know how to cook on my own.”

Bruno raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t want to fire you, though,” he mumbled. “I mean, you’ve always been there for me, and maybe I don’t need a bodyguard or driver anymore, but—I don’t know what to do.”

Bruno set down the glass of water and embraced Adrien, the type of warm hug he didn’t get nearly often enough.

“Thank you,” Adrien mumbled, blinking back tears that threatened to fall. “Thank you.”

_Compose a Photograph_

“M, you know how you wanted pictures of your designs to sell online?”

Marinette sighed as Alya talked excitedly on the phone, definitely setting her up for something. “Where are you going with this?”

“Sunshine just asked me for photography lessons.”

Marinette paused. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. When did he want to meet up?”

“This afternoon,” Alya replied. “Meet us at the Trocadero!”

Marinette hung up and started packing up some of her designs into a bag, along with a portable changing screen she was _very_ glad she’d invested in a year back. Changing in a public restroom was just asking for trouble.

She changed into a crocheted dress she’d spent way too much time making and headed out to meet her friends.

**

“Hey!” Marinette said brightly when she met Alya and Adrien. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re not,” Alya replied. “We’re early. Nice dress, by the way!”

“Thanks,” she said, glancing towards Adrien. “And thank you for doing this.”

“No problem,” he replied. His eyes darted over her body, probably to admire the dress, before his gaze met hers. “You look really good. I hope you don’t mind an amateur photographer.”

She shrugged. “You don’t mind an amateur model, do you? Because I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Just start with standing there and looking pretty,” he said, grinning. “Shouldn’t be hard for you.”

He was just teasing her, his friend. She knew that. But her heart beat a little faster anyways. “O-okay.”

She stood as Adrien started snapping pictures, talking to Alya a few times before fiddling with the camera. Finally, he returned his attention to her. “What did you bring? I’m pretty used to going least formal to most formal on these.”

“Uh, a T-shirt, a, tank top, and a dress,” she replied. “Not really anything formal.”

He paused for a moment before returning his attention to the camera. “Um. Why don’t you do the T-shirt next?”

Alya set up the changing screen for her, and Marinette ducked behind it, coming out a moment later in a white shirt emblazoned with a black cat and a well-fitted pair of jeans.

“Why don’t you sit on the bench over there?” Adrien suggested.

He took more pictures of her as Alya talked him through framing a shot and using the light to his advantage. Marinette started to feel awkward just sitting there, but Adrien would call out to her, talk to her about the clothes, enough to get her into a rant about how the silkscreening process was such a pain, but it came out _so_ well she didn’t mind that much.

Finally, she was on her last outfit, a red cotton sheath dress, and Adrien was positioning her in front of a fountain. “Lift your chin a little?” She did, but he frowned. “Is it okay if I—”

“Sure,” she replied, as he brushed his fingers against her chin, gently positioning her head.

“Perfect,” he said in a low voice, smiling brilliantly at her before going to take the picture.

He took a few shots, then showed Alya, who let out a low whistle. “Damn, that’s looking good, Sunshine. The student has become the master.”

“Couldn’t have done it without an amazing model,” he replied. “Hey, Mari, come look at this.”

She headed towards them, feeling self-conscious and awkward. The photo on the camera was absolutely stunning, the sun just starting to set behind Marinette, illuminating the spraying water around her, making her look ethereal. The dress was the brightest thing in the picture, attention drawn to it, but Marinette herself looked great too, a charming smile on her face as a perfectly positioned ray of sunlight lit up her eyes.

“Wow,” Marinette said. “Good job, Adrien, this is _amazing_. It’ll definitely help with selling the dress. Now I just have to get the rest of the site done.”

“I got you,” Alya said with an easy grin. “You just focus on designing, because you’re going to sell out _fast_.”

“Thank you,” Marinette replied. “Both of you! This is so great.” She couldn’t help but look directly at Adrien as she added, “You’re so great.”


	4. Change Your Oil/Sew a Button

_Change Your Oil_

Adrien awoke to a knocking sound. “Plagg, quit it,” he mumbled sleepily.

“It’s not me,” his equally sleepy kwami replied. “Go answer the door.”

Adrien groaned and quickly pulled on some sweatpants as he got out of the bed. He opened the door to see Bruno standing there with a mug of coffee in his hand. He nodded in greeting before gesturing for Adrien to exit the room and follow him.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the coffee. They walked to the garage together, and Adrien asked, “So, what’s this for?”

Bruno pushed open the door to the Agreste garage, a room that Adrien had never actually been in. He pointed to a workbench laid out with tools that looked well worn.

Adrien shrugged. “Well, there were a few things on the list about cars…can you show me how to, uh, change the oil?”

Bruno nodded. He pressed a button on the wall and the car began to move upward on hidden lifts beneath the wheels, until it was high enough up for Adrien to just barely crouch underneath. Bruno laid down on his back on a rolling board and squeezed beneath the car to show Adrien what to do.

Adrien was attentive, watching closely, wrinkling his nose in disgust as the old oil drained out of the vehicle. He couldn’t help but reach out to touch the black stream, even though he pulled his hand back as soon as the oil touched his fingers and caused a very predictable mess.

Bruno chuckled, and handed Adrien a rag before moving out from under the car and lowering it.

“When am I ever going to really use this?” he muttered as he watched Bruno open a new bottle of oil.

The driver shrugged and pointed to himself before shaking his head.

“I—yeah, I guess you won’t always be there,” Adrien mumbled. “Thanks for teaching me.”

Bruno nodded as he continued.

“I wish I’d grown up more normal,” Adrien complained with a sigh. “You shouldn’t have to teach me this stuff. Father should have, but he didn’t know how to do this either, did he?”

Bruno shook his head.

Adrien glanced down at his oil-smeared hand, noticing that he’d managed to rub more of the oil on his still bare chest. “He’d be so mad if he saw me like this.”

“Well, good thing he’s not seeing anything but a jail cell now,” Plagg commented, lazily floating through the wall to join the men. “What are you doing?”

“Plagg!” Adrien hissed. “You need to—wait. Right. Bruno, this is Plagg. He’s how I can transform.”

“We’ve met,” Plagg replied, settling onto Bruno’s shoulder. “Hey, Gorilla, got any cheese for me?”

Bruno shook his head.

“I still like you,” Plagg said.

“Wow, that’s really high praise,” Adrien said. “What did you do to earn that, buy him that Burgundy cheese he keeps asking about?”

“No, but if you want to be my favorite, you _could_ ,” Plagg said, smiling oh-so-innocently at Bruno. “Just a thought.”

“Please don’t,” Adrien mumbled.

Bruno just chuckled as he closed the car’s hood. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Adrien.

“I think I’ve got it. Thank you.”

“Ooh, is it time for breakfast now?” Plagg asked. “I could go for some cheese. You made me hungry by talking about it.”

“You’re just a floating stomach,” Adrien grumbled. “I should take a shower first.”

Plagg flew in front of him, giving him a judgemental look before smiling widely. “Nah. You should take a picture for your internet people.”

“Not gonna happen,” Adrien replied.

“Didn’t you say your dad would be mad if he saw you like this?” Plagg asked, his grin becoming slightly more evil. “Wouldn’t it be _fun_ to piss him off when he can’t do anything to you?”

Bruno chuckled and nodded his agreement.

Adrien rolled his eyes, but smiled as he grabbed his phone from his pocket. “Come here, both of you.”

“I won’t be in the picture, you know,” Plagg pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’ll know you’re there. Say Camembert!”

**

**adrienagrestebrand:** _finally learned how to change a car’s oil! who knew it was such a messy job?_

_Sew a Button_

Marinette was comfortably laying in bed, enjoying her lazy morning with the new picture of Adrien on his Instagram. He was smiling so freely, the genuine smile she saw so rarely in public from him. Plus, he looked _great_ shirtless.

Her phone buzzed as a notification came in.

**Adrien:** _are you free today?_

That should not have made her heart flutter like that.

**Marinette:** _yeah, what’s up?_

**Adrien:** _can you teach me how to sew?_

She frowned. She figured at the _very_ least Gabriel would have taught him _that_.

**Marinette:** _sure, do you want to come here or should I go there?_

**Adrien:** _come over? I’ve been out enough for a while_

**

When Marinette arrived at Adrien’s mansion, he led her to his father’s workshop, still untouched from the day he was arrested. The walls were lined with bolts of fabric, and a large sewing machine sat in the middle of the room beside a mannequin wearing a half-finished dress. Other machines were along the back wall, waiting to be used again.

“Wow,” she said, her eyes wide as she took in every detail of the room. “This is—I’m sorry, I know this can’t be easy for you.”

“I’ll be fine,” he replied. “I’m sure all this stuff means a lot more to you than it does to me, feel free to poke around.”

She zipped around the room like a nervous bug, heading straight for every little thing that caught her eye—a bolt of bamboo fabric, a skein of cashmere wool, a tub full of beads and rhinestones. She spent a _long_ time admiring the dress—the skirt was done, voluminous blue silk artfully draped, but the bodice was still just a muslin pattern.

“Oh my god there’s an embroidery machine!” she cried in joy as she looked at the different types of machines displayed. “This is—I would _kill_ to use just _one_ of these!”

Adrien chuckled, leaning back against a wall of cotton fabrics. “Do you want it?”

She spun around quickly. She’d almost forgotten he was there. “Are you serious?”

“I’m going to get rid of everything here sooner or later,” he said. “So anything you want, it’s yours. I’d rather you have it, anyways, I know you’ll make amazing things.”

She was not going to cry. She was just handed all she would need to _really_ start her own fashion line like it was _nothing_ and she was _not_ _going to cry._

But she _was_ going to rush over to Adrien and hug him tight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He seemed caught off guard, but soon his arms were wrapped around her, holding her so close that she had to rest her head against his chest. “Anything for you,” he murmured, and her heart could _not_ take this.

“A-anyways, I’m here for you, yeah?” she said, slowly backing away with a sheepish grin. “Teaching you to sew.”

“Well, the list just said sew a button, but anything you want to teach me would be great,” he said, smiling at her in that way that made her melt all over again.

“A button is a good place to start,” Marinette replied. “Let me just grab some supplies…” She wandered away, distracted again by the well stocked room as she grabbed buttons, needles, thread, and scrap fabric. She took a seat and motioned for Adrien to do the same.

Adrien looked blankly at the needle and thread she handed him. “How do I connect these?”

“Just push the thread through the eye of the needle, there,” she said. “I usually lick the end of the thread first, it keeps the fibers together.” She demonstrated, pulling the thread against the tip of her tongue before pushing it through the eye.

Adrien followed. It took him a few tries, but his smile when he successfully threaded the needle was so bright and infectious. “That wasn’t too hard!”

“Great!” Marinette said. “It can take a little while until you get used to it, but you got it fast!”

She showed him how to sew the button to the fabric, taking each step slowly and making sure he understood what he was doing. Soon, the scrap of fabric he held had a neatly fastened button to it.

“Thank you, Marinette,” he said, smiling widely at her again. “I’ve definitely had buttons come off my shirts before, but Nathalie always fixed them or had a backup shirt. This is great.”

“It’s really no problem,” she said. “If you want, I can teach you how to sew up a ripped seam?”

“Sure!” he said brightly. “I’m in your hands, Mari. Teach me anything.”

A few hours passed in a blur as Marinette showed Adrien everything he might need to know for emergency sewing, from fixing a hem to mending a pocket. He was a fast learner, and the way he smiled every time he got something right just made the room feel bright and sunny.

“Ah-ow!” he cried in surprise more than pain as he finished his last stitch. He dropped the needle onto the table and held up his finger, seeing a drop of blood welling where he’d pricked himself. “Right. Needles are sharp.”

“Happens all the time,” Marinette said. She grabbed a clean scrap fabric piece before putting her hand over his and gently wiping the blood away. “Some of my earlier designs _literally_ have my blood in them.”

Adrien just smirked at her. “Am I going to end up hurt every time you teach me something?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When you threw a ball at my head.”

Marinette just rolled her eyes. “That was an _accident!_ What, do you want me to kiss this better, too?”

His smile grew. “Well, actually…”

She gently pulled his hand to her lips, pressing a brief kiss against his fingertip, trying not to blush too hard. “There.”

“Thanks,” he said, still smiling. “So, what did you want to take from here?”

Marinette glanced around before giving him a shy grin. “Um. Everything?”

“Won’t that be a little hard to carry?”

She quickly thought about getting Kaalki to help, and just tossing everything through a portal…but she just shook her head. “Maybe I could make multiple trips?”

“Are you sure you’re not looking for an excuse to come back?” Adrien teased, his face suddenly close to hers, a ridiculous shit eating grin on his face.

She laughed as she pushed him back with a fingertip on his nose. The gesture was fun, familiar, and made her drop her hand quickly. “Um, d-do I really need an excuse to visit my friend?”

“I guess not,” he said, a small blush spreading across his cheeks. “And, for the record, you’re welcome here anytime.”

“But, um, for today, I _will_ be taking a few bolts of silk, if that’s okay,” she said, drawing back. “I’ve got some ideas that can use these…”

“I can’t wait to see them,” Adrien said. “And thank you, again. This really means a lot to me.”


	5. Change a Tire/Iron a Shirt

_Change a Tire_

Adrien was getting used to spending his mornings in the garage with Bruno.

He learned a lot about car maintenance, but some mornings they just hung out, sipping coffee together as Adrien just _talked_. Topics of conversation ranged from the plot of an anime Adrien had been watching to how _angry_ Adrien still was with Gabriel.

The man had ignored his own _son_ to be a supervillain, and Adrien didn’t think he’d ever really get over it.

Bruno was a good listener. He just let Adrien ramble on, smiling and nodding when necessary, or fixing him with a stare when he disagreed.

Plagg joined in, munching his morning camembert and arguing with Adrien about anime. But when it came to Gabriel, the kwami was uncharacteristically silent, just letting his kitten yell and cry without judgement.

It wasn’t exactly therapy, but Adrien _needed_ this.

**

“Did he even think I was real?” Adrien asked as Bruno demonstrated changing a tire on the car. “I’ve been thinking about what he was going to use the wish for, and—I think he was going to reset everything to before Mom…”

Bruno just nodded.

“So _everything_ he did, it’s like it wouldn’t have happened,” Adrien said. “He didn’t care about _me_ , because this version of me would have been _gone_.”

Bruno grunted as he stood up. He patted his chest.

“I know,” Adrien said with a wry smile. “You cared.”

Bruno nodded.

“Timelines are _weird_ , kid,” Plagg said, floating by on his back as if he were swimming. “Don’t break your head thinking about it.”

“Sometimes I’m mad at him, sometimes I just want to know what I did wrong so I can fix everything,” Adrien muttered, wrapping his arms around himself. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Bruno shrugged, and Plagg asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Make things right,” he said automatically. “He didn’t just do this to _me_ , he did this to the whole city, and—I know what it’s like to _die_. I’m not the only one. I should have been the one to stop him earlier, so why do I get to stay in this place with—with so much money, and you and my friends keep caring about me, and other people _don’t have that_.”

Bruno brought his hands up to his head, miming pigtails.

“Yeah, you’d think he’d talk to her, but the kid won’t _call her_ ,” Plagg said, irritation clear in his voice. “Kid. Talk to Ladybug. She’s still your partner.”

Bruno nodded his agreement.

Adrien sighed, running his thumb over the ring he still wore. “I want to talk to her, but—she wants to know who I am now, and how am I supposed to tell her that I _lived_ with that monster and couldn’t help her catch him any faster?”

“Well, using your words would be a good start, instead of hiding in your bedroom for months.”

Bruno gently pushed Plagg aside, shaking his head as he walked towards Adrien. He patted his chest, nodding softly before giving him a hug.

“She’ll forgive me,” Adrien murmured. “She always has, no matter what I did. Plagg?”

The kwami excitedly zipped towards him.

“Claws out.”

A flash of green light illuminated the garage, and Chat Noir stood tall for the first time in months. Bruno smiled as the hero pressed a button on his baton.

“Hey, Bugaboo,” Chat said, smiling softly despite the trepidation clear in his voice. “I know it’s been a while, but I—can you meet me at the usual spot? Tonight at 8?”

He glanced towards Bruno, who gave him a smile and a thumbs-up.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around, my Lady,” he said. “I promise I’ll explain everything.”

_Iron a Shirt_

“Marinette!” Tikki cried excitedly, floating into her face.

The girl glanced at her kwami with a level stare as she sipped her coffee. “Yes?”

“You have a message!” Tikki said. “From Chat!”

Marinette began coughing as she dropped her mug. Coffee spilled on the floor, but the mug luckily didn’t shatter. “Tikki, spots on!”

She pulled out her yo-yo to listen to the message, and ended up biting her gloved hand so she wouldn’t cry as she heard her partner’s voice again.

“Spots off,” she said softly. “Tikki, he’s—he wants to see me. He’s _alive_ , he’s okay…” She didn’t know if she was laughing or crying. “I’m going to see him tonight.”

“That’s great, Marinette!” Tikki said with a smile.

**

**Adrien:** _are you free today? I need another favor_ 😅

**Marinette:** _I have a little time. I can be there in about an hour_ _😊_

**

Adrien brought Marinette to his bedroom, where he had an old ironing board and iron set up, a light blue dress shirt draped over it. “I, uh, may have burned through the first shirt I tried.”

“Honestly, I’ve done that before too,” she admitted with a smile. “So, is this for your list, or something else?”

“Both,” he answered as she crossed the room to the ironing board. “I’m meeting an old friend tonight. It’s been…too long since I’ve seen her, and I _really_ want to make a good impression. But I also need to learn how to iron a shirt.”

“You sure this is what you want to wear?” Marinette asked, fighting back the wave of jealousy that washed over her mind.

“Why, what’s wrong with it?” Adrien asked with a frown.

“Nothing,” she replied. “It’s just…green looks better on you. Brings out your eyes.”

“Oh! Yeah, hold on a second.” He walked into his closet and emerged with a soft green shirt, the same color as when the sunlight hit his eyes. “How’s this?”

Marinette smiled. “Good. Really good.”

“So, I guess I don’t need to iron that one,” Adrien said, gesturing towards the ironing board. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, I’m already here,” she replied. “Let me show you how to do this.” She picked up the iron, waving her hand in front of the metal plate to check if it was hot.

“Careful,” Adrien said quickly. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

“That’s only if you touch the plate, and I’m not _that_ bad of a klutz,” she replied, quickly adding in a soft tone, “Anymore, at least.”

“Anymore?” he asked, teasing.

“Shut up,” she muttered, her cheeks burning red. She smoothed out the fabric of the shirt with one hand before pressing down the iron with the other. “Anyways, it’s pretty straightforward. Don’t let the iron stay on the fabric too long, and make sure any creases are out or you’ll just make them worse.”

She glanced up, intending to ask him if he wanted to try, only to find him shrugging on the green shirt, the fabric draping and framing his now _bare_ chest.

“U-um, I’m sorry, sh-should I go?” she asked, her mouth dry as she tried not to stare.

“No, sorry, I’m listening,” he said. “Smooth it out, don’t let the fabric burn, right?” He mercifully began buttoning the shirt, but that just meant Marinette was treated to the sight of his fingers working at each individual button.

“R-right.”

He pushed at the sleeves of the shirt. “What do you think? Rolled up, or not?”

“W-whatever makes you comfortable, I think.” Who _was_ this girl he was meeting? Adrien was always impeccably dressed, but this was the first time she’d ever seen him put so much _effort_ into his appearance. He’d called her an old friend, did this girl know how insanely _lucky_ she was?

“Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I invited you over here and then I’m just—I’m really nervous about seeing her again. I haven’t talked to her since my father…you know.”

“Oh,” was all Marinette could say. “She’s your friend, right? I’m sure she’ll understand.”

They both stood there in awkward silence for a moment as Marinette set aside the iron and Adrien fidgeted with his sleeves, trying to situate them just right. Then, suddenly, her phone chimed an alarm.

“Oh, crap, I need to get home, I promised I’d help my parents in the bakery,” she said.

“I need to get going pretty soon,” he said. “Thank you so much for helping, Marinette. You’re amazing.”

“I-it was nothing,” she replied, willing herself to start walking away. “I’ll see you around!”

Her heart thudded in her chest as she walked out of the mansion. The searing jealousy she felt was fading fast, replaced by excitement and anticipation as she knew that alarm meant it was time for her to prepare for her meeting with Chat. The masks might be falling—so she couldn’t show up in just any old T-shirt!

**

She arrived on the rooftop at exactly the time Chat had asked, after carefully choosing an outfit, doing her hair and makeup, and telling Tikki that no, she didn’t _like_ Chat, she just wanted to make a good impression.

Her partner, her best friend was already there, leaning against his staff in the same carefree manner he always had, smiling as she approached. “Hey there, Bugaboo.”

She couldn’t control herself, she was just so happy to see him again—she raced towards him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “Hey, Kitty.”

“I take it you missed me?”

“Shut up and let me have this.”

Chat’s arms were warm around her, reciprocating the hug without squeezing her too tightly. “I missed you too, My Lady,” he murmured, his tone so sincere that she couldn’t help but smile. “I promise, though, when I drop the mask, you’ll understand.”

“Are you ready now?” she asked. “We can just…sit here and talk, if you’d prefer.”

He shook his head, taking a step back from her. “Let's do this now. At the same time?”

“Yeah,” she said, holding her head high, steeling herself. “Spots off.”

“Claws in.”

The shirt was the first thing she noticed, the same green shirt she’d picked out for him earlier. Her gaze slowly lifted as the fog cleared, and she was face to face with Adrien Agreste.

“ _Oh_.”


	6. Stop a Running Toilet/Give a Speech

_Stop a Running Toilet_

Adrien actually _felt_ the universe shift when he saw Marinette standing before him. Of _course_ she was Ladybug. He’d always slightly suspected, but every time his suspicions became clearer, she’d done something to throw him off. Knowing it was really her—nothing could have prepared him for the feeling that wrenched at his heart in that moment.

He loved her.

He knew he loved _Ladybug_ , but now that he knew—he loved Marinette just as much. He always had, he realized, and he just wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her until everything was okay.

But the look on her face stopped him. She wasn’t smiling, instead she was staring at him with something akin to horror.

His heart dropped, feeling like it fell out of his body and plummeted down to the dirty streets below them. He was suddenly reminded it was _his_ fault, _his_ father that had caused everything, and he was just as much to blame. He _should have known!_

Lady— _Marinette_ wasn’t going to forgive him. And she _shouldn’t_.

“Adrien,” she murmured softly. Her voice was soft, and he steeled himself for her next words. Did she hate him? Was he going to lose his friend along with his partner?

Was she going to demand Plagg back?

He _wasn’t_ expecting her to rush towards him and wrap her arms around him. “Oh, _Adrien_ , I’m so sorry,” she murmured, her body warm as she embraced him.

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” he muttered. “I should have _known_. I should have found out sooner, I should’ve—I just ran away, like an _idiot_ , I’m so sorry my Lady…”

“You have _nothing_ to apologize for,” she said fiercely. “ _Nothing_. I understand why you left now, and—I don’t blame you.”

“So you forgive me?” he asked, dusting off his heart as he dared to pick it up again.

She chuckled. “Of course I do, you silly cat. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

He hugged her tighter, just relishing in the feeling of being held, being _wanted_ , before he pulled away. “You know, I kind of thought this reveal would go differently.”

“How so?” she asked.

“You’d see how devastatingly handsome I am, and fall for me on the spot,” he replied with a rakish grin that felt _odd_ to do without the mask. “Of course, that was the idea before—before my father, and before I knew that _you_ …” He waved his hand in a vague motion as his words trailed off. “But I’m really glad we’re friends, Marinette.”

She had an odd look on her face, just for a moment, before it was replaced by the soft smile that he loved to see on her. “Yeah. We’re friends.”

He wasn’t going to _stop_ loving her, but he could dial it back to friendship if that’s what made her more comfortable. At least he was going to keep his Lady in his life.

“Anyways, now I’m _definitely_ helping you finish that list of yours,” she said, smiling. “I can tell it’s really helping you.”

“Thanks,” he said. “There’s actually—one of the things is giving a speech, and I figured—I thought, if this went well, I could do something to let people know I’m back. I-if that’s okay with you!”

“That’s a good idea,” she said. “I’ll swing by Alya’s after this and see about doing some sort of Ladyblog announcement.”

“I’m not sure what I’m going to say, though,” he admitted with a small smile.

“Then—let’s talk about it.” She sat down on the rooftop, patting the space beside her. “Just you and me, Kitty.”

**

Much later, Adrien finally returned home. He went through his typical bedtime routine and crawled under the covers, ready for a night of sleep after the emotional toll of the day suddenly hit him.

But then he heard a sound from the bathroom. His toilet was flushing—and flushing, and flushing and flushing and—

With a groan, he got up and headed into the bathroom. This had happened before, but he just called one of the night staff to fix it. Now, he didn’t have that luxury.

A part of his mind was excited—this is what he wanted! Handling things on his own! Being an adult! But a larger part of his mind just wanted to _sleep_.

He lifted the lid off the back of the toilet and stared down into the thankfully clean looking water. It was shimmering as it ran, but one thing was very clear: Adrien had no freaking clue what he was doing. So, he grabbed his phone and did a quick search.

Comparing his toilet to the one in the video, he quickly realized the chain under the water was caught on something—it was an easy fix to reach in and uncatch it, letting the toilet finally quiet down. Then, it was just a matter of vigorously washing the toilet water off his hands.

By the time Adrien got back to bed, it was 2 AM. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he’d talked to Ladybug—to _Marinette_. And before he could think about her too much, he was asleep.

_Give a Speech_

Alya was still awake when Ladybug came by, and she was more than happy to arrange for Chat to give a speech to the Ladyblog followers.

“So, why did he stay gone so long?”

Ladybug shook her head. “I’m sorry, but that’s a personal reason, and it’ll be up to him if he wants to tell you. What’s important is he’s back now.”

“You must be relieved.”

Ladybug smiled. “You have no idea.”

**

**Marinette:** _alya agreed. Normal patrol time tonight okay?_

**Adrien:** _purrfect_ _😼_

Marinette set down her phone and relaxed in bed, not quite willing to get up yet. “Hey, Tikki?”

“Yes?” the small kwami asked, floating over to her.

“You knew Chat was Adrien, didn’t you?”

Tikki nodded. “Even if I wanted to tell you, the magic prevented me from doing so. I think it’s good you chose to do the reveal on your own.”

“Chat…he always said he loved Ladybug. Loved _me_ ,” she murmured. “Do you think now that he knows who I am, he might be able to love me again?”

Tikki was silent for a long moment, and then said, “I can’t tell you the future, Marinette. You should just do what feels right for you.”

“I can’t lose him as a friend,” she said resolutely. “He’s been through too much, and I’m going to be there for him in _any_ way I can. He said he’s glad to have me as a friend, and I’m going to be the best friend I can for him.”

“But what about you?”

She sighed. “I’ve been in love with him for six years without making any progress. What’s the rest of my life, really?”

“ _Marinette_.”

“Don’t be so down, Tikki, I’m going to try and move on. I just—the way I love him keeps changing, and hopefully, someday, it’ll be at the point where I won’t be hurt by it anymore. Till then, I can be happy being his friend.” She stretched and got out of bed. “All right, time to get up, and see if Papa needs any help in the bakery today.”

**

The day went by agonizingly slow, but it was at least broken up by texts from Adrien. He wanted to go over every detail of what he was going to say to Alya, and Marinette was absolutely happy to help him. She couldn’t help the way her heart leapt each time her phone chimed, or the way she smiled at her phone as it set in that Adrien wanted _her_ help.

Reminding herself that Adrien was Chat, was her best friend, did nothing to stop the flutters in her stomach.

Finally, she transformed and met Chat at a building across the street from Alya’s place, and the two superheroes headed there together, meeting the reporter on her roof.

She was almost vibrating with excitement, and cried, “Chat Noir! It’s good to see you back!”

“It’s good to be back,” he replied.

“So, let’s get right to it,” she said, pulling out her phone to record him. “Why did you leave?”

He flashed a smile at the camera. “Cat’s secret,” he said with a charming wink. “But I do want to let the people of Paris know that I’m back, and Ladybug and I will keep the streets safe for everyone again!”

“Are you going to leave again?” she asked.

“Not planning on it,” he replied with a shrug. “Next time I’m out of Paris will be when my Lady accepts my proposal and we go on our amazing honeymoon.”

He leaned close to Ladybug with a suggestive eyebrow waggle, and she just rolled her eyes before lightly pushing him away with a finger to the tip of her nose. It was just an act, she reminded herself. They couldn’t let everyone know their dynamic had changed. They’d discussed this.

He didn’t _actually_ want to marry her.

“So, what do you want to say to the people of Paris?” Alya asked. “There’s gotta be a reason you came to find me instead of just randomly hanging out. Ladybug wouldn’t tell me _anything_ when you were gone.”

Ladybug shot her a look, and she gave a sheepish shrug.

Chat took a breath, rolling his shoulders back to ready himself. “I want to address the people of Paris. It’s not fair to leave everyone in the dark for so long.”

Alya nodded silently, making sure the camera was focused on him. Ladybug stood by his side, her fingers brushing his, but also stayed quiet to let him speak.

“I’m sorry,” he said, all humor gone from his voice. “I did have personal reasons for disappearing, which I cannot share, but I’m sorry about _how_ I left. You, people of Paris, deserved to have some closure after being terrorized for so many years.”

He took a deep breath before continuing. “Hawkmoth is defeated, and at this time, we are not aware of any other threats facing our city. But we won’t be going away—Ladybug and I will stay protectors of Paris and keep you safe. If anything, or anyone, tries to threaten this city again, we _will_ stop them.”

He squeezed Ladybug’s hand, glancing at her, his eyes wide. She squeezed back and smiled at him before addressing Alya.

“Are we good?”

Alya nodded, shutting off the phone. “Yeah. I’ll edit and post it tonight.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “Thanks for…everything. It’s good to know we can count on you.”

“Off the record,” Alya said abruptly, making a show of putting the phone in her pocket, “Chat, are you okay? I just—I know we’re not the closest, but I’ve been on your team and we’re _kinda_ friends…”

“We’re definitely friends,” he replied. “And—I will be okay. There’s a lot going on, which I can’t talk about, but _thank you_ for caring. It means a lot.”

“Anytime,” she said. “If you ever want to come over and just hang out? No cameras. I’ll be here.”

Chat abruptly stepped forward and hugged her. “Thank you,” he murmured as she returned the friendly embrace. “Thank you so much.”

**

Chat and Ladybug sat on top of the Eiffel Tower together, watching the city lights below them

“Do you think it went well?” he asked.

She nodded. “People will just be glad you’re back. I know I am.”

“Technically, I never left.”

She turned to smile at him, ignoring how her heart pounded at the soft, uncertain look on his face. “Yeah, that’s true. But still—I missed you.”

He looked at her, his smile sweet. “I missed you too.”


	7. Fix a Leaky Faucet/Garden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys I'm not dead

_Fix a Leaky Faucet_

“Hey, Sunshine, is plumbing on your list?”

“Uh, yeah?” Adrien yawned, stretching as he rose from bed with Alya’s phone call. “Why?”

“Our kitchen faucet is dripping like crazy and my dad doesn’t want to call a plumber,” she replied. “He’s too busy to _fix_ it, though, so I thought, if you’ve got some time, we’ve got all the tools here.”

“Yeah, sure, I can try,” Adrien said. “Don’t blame me if I make it worse, though.”

“You’ll be fine,” she said. “See you in an hour?”

“Works for me.”

**

Adrien stared at the frankly dizzying assortment of tools Alya had laid out for him. “Um,” he said.

“I don’t know what you’ll need, either,” she confessed. “I figured you’d look up a youtube tutorial or something.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” he said, getting his phone out of his pocket. As he searched, he heard Alya laughing. “What?”

“Sorry,” she said between giggles. “You just look so serious, but also like a lost puppy.”

“I’m not a puppy,” he mumbled, his lower lip jutting out in a pout without his permission. If anything, he was a kitty. His lady’s kitty. “Um. Is the water shut off?”

Alya leaned over and turned on the sink, letting it spray water. “No.”

Adrien sighed before getting on his knees. “Can you hold my phone?” he asked Alya before reaching under the sink.

“Sure,” she said, taking the device. “So…what kind of crazy stuff is on your list?”

“All kinds of things,” he replied, turning a valve that looked like it might shut off the water. Sure enough, the rush in the sink above him turned to a slow drip before stopping.

“Well, what’s the next thing to do?”

Adrien shrugged as he stood up and grabbed a screwdriver. “I was thinking maybe gardening. There’s a rose bush in the garden at home beside Mother’s statue, and it’s starting to get overgrown since there’s no more staff taking care of it.”

“You should ask Marinette,” Alya advised. “You’ve seen her balcony, she’s great with plants. And I’m sure she’d _love_ to help you.”

Adrien couldn’t hide the smile that crossed his face. “I’d really like that. You sure she wouldn’t mind? I’ve already asked her for help with this list a lot.”

“She won’t mind,” Alya promised. “So, is the list on your phone? I can help you figure out who’s best for helping you with each thing, if you want.”

“Uh, yeah, it’s saved in my browser bookmarks.”

She scrolled through the phone, smirking as she flipped through the bookmarks. “Nice, you’ve got the Ladyblog saved…something called Cheese World…LadyNoir fanfics, nice, nice…here it is!”

Adrien tightened the faucet as Alya read over the list.

“Sunshine, have you read all these?”

“Not yet,” he said.

A calculating grin spread across her face. “Oh, Mari would be great at helping you with these. _Especially_ number 23.”

“What’s 23, again?”

“Oh, you’ll see.”

Soon, Adrien had finished, turning on the sink to test that it was working. “Well—thanks,” he said. “I can say I know how to do this now.”

“Honestly, really, thank you,” Alya replied. “You’re really helpful. You’re going to come out of this a handyman.”

“I’d like to come out of it as a man, period,” he mumbled. “But thanks for—for supporting me.”

“Anytime,” she said, her voice softer now. “You’re my friend.”

He impulsively stepped closer to her and hugged her tight, enjoying the fact that he just could _hug_ her, and be embraced in return, and not have to _think_ about it. That’s what friends were for, right?

“And if you want any tips on winning over Marinette, let me know,” Alya added with a wink when the two parted.

Adrien was sure his face was flushed red. “It’s—it’s not like that. We’re friends. A-anyways, I should get going.”

“Uh-huh,” Alya said with a grin. “Enjoy number 23!”

**

The next day, as Adrien waited for Marinette to come over and help with the roses, he took another look at his list, this time focusing on one particular task.

“23. Kiss.”

Alya was just teasing him, wasn’t she?

“Hey, Adrien!”

He glanced up from his phone to see Marinette approaching him, looking _adorable_ in denim overall shorts and pink gardening gloves on her hands. She held a bucket of gardening tools as the Gorilla escorted her towards the statue.

_Garden_

Marinette couldn’t help but blush when she saw Adrien, saw the smile light up his face. “So, um—roses, right?”

“Right,” Adrien said, gesturing to a bush full of white roses beside a seated statue of a woman Marinette had often seen in pictures—his mother. “It’s the one thing my father did that I actually want to keep,” he said in a soft voice. “But I don’t know how to take care of it.”

Marinette nodded before kneeling down beside the plant, gently running her fingers over its leaves. “Well, it’s in a really good spot. Lots of light, looks like it’s getting plenty of water. Just needs some pruning.”

“And…how do I do that?”

She grabbed pruning shears from her bucket of tools and a second set of gloves. “Here. You don’t want the thorns to get you.”

Adrien nodded as he pulled on the gloves, a frayed pair with pink flowers decorating the fingers. He carefully took the shears before looking where Marinette was pointing.

“Snip there,” she said. “See how this branch looks old and dead? You need to cut these parts off.”

He carefully snipped before finding a second branch. “This one too?”

“Yeah,” she replied, smiling. “You got it. You’ll also want to trim any branch that’s super thin, like these. Just go slow, and it’ll start feeling natural.”

“How’d you learn to do this?” he asked as he snipped.

“I always liked flowers,” she responded. “And then since…y’know, being Ladybug, they’ve just always really fascinated me.”

He grinned. “Oh, like how I purr sometimes.”

“Like that,” she said. And then, because she was so comfortable she wasn’t thinking about what she was saying, she confessed, “Once I found some aphids on my plants and I kind of. Ate them.”

Adrien laughed, and the sheer joy on his face was the only thing keeping Marinette from running away in shame. “I cough up hairballs sometimes. I don’t even know where the hair comes from!”

She joined him in laughing then, as he pulled a face and mimed a cat retching up a furball. He kept cracking open one eye, looking at her, before making sillier and sillier faces. Marinette ended up laughing so hard she lost her balance, leaning against Adrien.

_Snip_. “Oh, no,” he muttered. “I got one of the flowers by mistake.”

“That’s okay,” she replied. “It’s a plant, it’ll grow more.”

Adrien nodded, twirling the flower in his gloved fingers before quickly snipping off the thorns still attached to it. He held the white blossom out to her. “For you, my Lady.”

Her cheeks grew warm, and she suddenly couldn’t speak.

His face fell. “Sorry, too much? I didn’t mean—”

“I-it’s really nice,” she said quickly, taking the flower from him. She fixed the stem behind her ear, tucking the rose into her hair. “How do I look?”

He stared at her for a long, _agonizing_ moment before saying, “You—you look really nice.” He turned back to the bush before she could say anything more. “Okay. I think it’s done.”

“Looks nice,” Marinette replied. “So, you’ll want to water it twice a week unless it rains, and give it fertilizer every couple of months when you prune it again.”

“I can handle that,” he said. “Thank you, Marinette. Oh—almost forgot.”

He used the shears to snip another flower, laying this one on the stone statue’s lap. He gazed at his mother’s face almost reverently.

Marinette was quiet, giving him his moment, but then broke the silence by asking, “Do you…want to talk about her?”

He shook his head. “Actually—please don’t judge me for this, but I usually talk _to_ her. I know it’s not really Mom, but I used to think that wherever she was, she’d hear me. I still hope she can.”

“I won’t judge,” she said softly. “Do what you need to do.”

He smiled at her gratefully before turning back to the statue. “Hey, Mom. I fixed your roses—I’m going to take better care of them now.”

The statue smiled pleasantly.

“And Marinette here—she helped so much, she’s amazing,” Adrien continued. “You would have really liked her. She’s—she’s incredible, she’s smart, she’s kind, she’s—my partner, my best friend.”

Marinette blushed, heat radiating from her cheeks, but she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Okay, second best friend next to Nino,” Adrien admitted, tossing her a grin. “But in any case, I can’t imagine making it through everything without her.” He reached out to place his hand over the carved stone. “I really, really wish you’d met her.”

“Adrien,” Marinette murmured softly, reaching to touch his hand. But before she could, her phone started ringing, and she winced. “That’s—I’m sorry.”

As she assured her mother that she would be back soon for her shift at the bakery, she watched Adrien whisper something to the statue. He looked back at her with that dazzling smile of his, and she nearly _melted_.

“I’ll see you soon, Maman,” she said before hanging up. “Sorry, I have to go…”

“Okay,” he replied, his smile falling slightly. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, at patrol tomorrow if nothing else,” she said, gathering her gardening supplies. “Bye!”

**

Once home, she carefully removed the flower from her hair and set it in a vase before getting ready for her shift, still beaming as she thought about all the things Adrien had said about her.

Partners. Best friends. And maybe, if she was lucky enough, more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +5 internet points to anyone who can guess what Adrien whispered


	8. Basic Carpentry/Cook Eggs

_Basic Carpentry_

“How goes the list?” Ladybug asked. It was their first patrol together after they’d revealed identities, and Chat was _so glad_ he didn’t have to hide _anything_ from his partner anymore.

They didn’t _really_ need to patrol, either, but it was good for Paris to see the heroes out and about. And he wanted to establish a routine again, anyways.

“Pretty good,” he responded. “I’m not really going through it in order or anything, more just…doing what happens to come up. But it feels nice to have a goal.”

“Yeah, I bet,” she said, smiling at him in that way that made him feel like everything would be all right. “Can I see the list? There’s probably a few things I can help you with.”

“Sure,” he said, pulling up the list on his baton before passing it over.

She glanced over it, and blushed. “Did you, um, read over everything on the list?”

“No,” he admitted. “Alya already warned me about number 23, though. I’ll…figure out what to do with that when I get to it.”

Ladybug cringed slightly. “She volunteered me, didn’t she?”

He laughed. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out.”

She nodded, glancing out over the city as she handed back the baton. “So, which one _do_ you want to do next? I’m trying to help you here.”

She could help by kissing him, but instead, he said, “I guess carpentry? Might be fun to hammer something now that I can’t beat up akumas.”

“Oh!” She turned to him with a smile. “Papa was going to make some new shelves for the bakery this week. Why don’t you help him? He’d love to teach you!”

“I don’t want to impose,” he replied. “What if I mess up and cost your father time?”

“Adrien,” she said, her voice suddenly stern. “I wouldn’t invite you if I wasn’t _sure_ he’d be happy to have you there.”

“…okay.” He hung his head. “Sorry. I shouldn’t doubt you.”

He wasn’t expecting to be pulled into a sudden tight hug. “It’s okay,” Ladybug murmured. “You’re still going through a lot. I just—you don’t have to be shy around me or my family, okay? My parents would adopt you if they could, really.”

“I’ll ask,” he said. “If you’re sure he won’t mind. I’ll ask.”

**

Two days later, Adrien found himself in a storage room of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, staring at a pile of wood.

Tom Dupain set a toolbox on the ground before clapping Adrien on the back, hard enough to make him stumble forward half a step. “So! Marinette says you want to learn to build things?”

“Kind of,” he replied, before explaining the list.

Tom nodded, rubbing at his chin with his hand. “Well, that’s a big task you’re undertaking, but I’m proud of you for doing something to help yourself. Don’t be afraid to reach out to me or Sabine to finish the list, all right?”

Adrien smiled. It felt nice, probably too nice, to have _someone_ be proud of him. He leaned down and picked up a piece of wood. “Let’s build some shelves.”

Tom showed him how to hammer the pieces of wood together—and not hurt himself, and how to make sure the shelves were stable and level. He was a good teacher, explaining everything thoroughly, correcting Adrien’s mistakes, but somehow not making him feel _bad_ for making those mistakes.

It was not something Adrien was used to.

“All right,” Tom said when the new shelving unit was as tall as he was, “this is good. Let’s get some lunch while the glue dries. Head into the apartment, I’ll get us a loaf for sandwiches.”

Adrien nodded and brushed off his clothes before heading through the door Tom indicated. He hadn’t really gotten dirty, just a light sweat, but still—he didn’t want to look a mess when he saw Marinette. Plagg would tease him later for sure.

His worries about his annoying kwami evaporated when he stepped foot into the Dupain-Cheng kitchen and his gaze landed on Marinette, bent over to grab something from a cabinet. The angle meant he had a _great_ view of her…assets, nicely shaped, _wonderfully_ clad in tight denim, and the way she _wiggled_ as she searched the cabinet…he tore his eyes away when she stood up.

“Oh, hey,” she said with a smile, setting a mixing bowl on the counter. “Done already?”

“No, your father wanted to break for lunch while the glue dries,” Adrien replied.

“I was just going to make a salad for my own lunch, but I can make extra for you and Papa…let me just get a bigger bowl.”

She bent down again and Adrien let himself indulge in the view. He was lost in a fantasy of Marinette and her curves when suddenly a large hand clapped on his shoulder. Tom glanced down at him, the man’s normally jovial smile gone, and Adrien gulped.

Tom only patted his shoulder before turning to Marinette and smiling again. “Joining us for lunch, cinnamon bun?”

Marinette flushed at the nickname. “Yeah, I was just making some salad.”

“Have Adrien help you, I’ll make us sandwiches,” Tom said. He crossed the kitchen and pulled a large knife out of a drawer, locking eyes with Adrien before grabbing some cheese from the fridge.

He mostly stayed out of the way while Marinette and her father worked, watching in awe as knives flew and salad was tossed at blinding speed.

“Hey, Adrien, can you get me the eggs out of the fridge?” Marinette asked. “The ones in the bowl, not the carton.”

He nodded, handing her the eggs. He then watched wide-eyed as she started to crack one open on the counter. “Isn’t that going to make a mess?”

She shook her head with a smile. “No, these are boiled already. I’m just going to slice them for the salad.”

“Woah, how do you cook them like that?” he asked, in awe. “I really only ever had eggs cooked in things. Or egg white omelettes.”

“That’s boring,” Marinette said. “The tasty part of the egg is the yolk.”

“And the _fattening_ part,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.

She stopped peeling the shell off an egg for a moment. “Hey, cooking eggs is on your list, isn’t it? Why don’t I show you how to boil them when you’re done with Papa?”

Adrien’s gaze darted over to Tom for a second, but the man was simply preparing sandwiches without apparently listening. “Sure. I’d really like that.” If he survived his carpentry lesson.

**

_Cook Eggs_

Marinette had to slip down into the bakery to get more eggs as she planned out what to teach Adrien. There were so _many_ ways to cook eggs, and she didn’t want to mess anything up, or teach him badly, or—she had to get ahold of herself, or she’d be a mess before he even finished the shelves.

She passed by Adrien, overheard her father talking in a low voice, though the words were hard to make out. A moment later, he laughed, joined by Adrien’s laughter—though he sounded a little nervous.

Soon, though, Adrien was back in her kitchen, an array of eggs on the counter. Even though the room easily fit her and her father earlier, it felt _small_ now that it was just her and Adrien.

“So, there’s a _lot_ of ways to cook eggs, I thought I’d just show you the easiest three,” she said. “You ready?”

Was the kitchen always so small that she brushed against someone else every time she took a step, or was Adrien just that close? She was glad she could fry an egg in her sleep, because she had to concentrate on making sure her heart didn’t thud out of her chest.

Adrien was attentive, asking questions. She showed him how to crack an egg one-handed, and it took him a while to copy the technique without just squeezing the egg in his hand.

As they waited for the last batch of eggs to boil, they tasted their fried and scrambled variants. Adrien smiled with every bite, like he was tasting the most delicious food he’d ever eaten.

“I didn’t know plain eggs could _be_ so good,” he murmured around a mouthful. “You’re amazing at this, Marinette.”

How could he be so damn _cute_ even with his mouth full of gross half chewed egg? It wasn’t _fair!_

A timer went off. “Oh, the hard boiled ones are done.”

Adrien, sweet and innocent and _dumb_ , stuck his hand into the boiling water to get them. “Ow!”

She didn’t know whether to laugh at him or pity him. She settled for both. “Uh, it’s hot?” she warned belatedly through her giggles. She turned on the kitchen sink, streaming cold water. “Here, let me see.”

“It wasn’t boiling anymore,” Adrien said, a pout on his face that was just so _Chat_ she laughed again. He held out his hand, and she winced as she saw redness already blooming on the skin.

“That doesn’t mean it isn’t hot.” She gently grabbed his wrist to lead him to the sink, sticking his hand under the stream of cold water. He sucked in a sharp breath, but then relaxed. “I think you’ll be fine, Kitty.”

“These eggs better be _eggs_ -cellent,” he quipped. “How long do I need to leave my hand here?”

“Till it stops hurting,” she replied. Her fingers gently rubbed over the red spots, a soothing gesture she didn’t realize she was doing until he pulled his hand away.

“Hey, Marinette?” he murmured as he dried his hands.

“Yeah?” She drained the hot water into the sink when she felt arms wrapped around her from behind, Adrien’s chin on her shoulder, his cheek pressed warm against hers.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “For everything. You’re…you’re more than I deserve.”

She could feel the corner of his lips just barely brushing her skin. If she just turned her head…”You’re welcome,” she said. “But you _do_ deserve this. And—everything. You deserve whatever it takes to make you happy.”

She was the one who didn’t deserve him.

“You make me happy, my Lady,” he said. As a friend, she reminded herself.

“I’m glad I can help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's a bit short--I promise some action happens next chapter. ;)


	9. The Heimlich Maneuver/Perform CPR

_The Heimlich Maneuver_

**Marinette:** I found a first aid class online. Teaches CPR and the Heimlich.

**Adrien:** sounds perfect!

**Marinette:** great! Because I already signed us up.

**Adrien:** us?

**Marinette:** I should learn this stuff too. If anyone should know basic first aid, it’s us, right?

**

It wasn’t _fair_ that Adrien could look so attractive without trying. He showed up to the first aid class dressed in just a simple white t-shirt and jeans, and _all_ she could think about was how she wouldn’t mind a little mouth-to-mouth with him…

But then the class began, and her focus was drawn to the material. The instructor was a friendly woman who went over how to pick out a sprain or concussion, when to call emergency services, and how to treat a burn. It was a _lot_ of information in a short time, and Marinette’s head was spinning.

“Okay, we’re going to work on some practical applications!” the instructor said, clapping her hands together.

Marinette wished she’d been taking notes.

“Pair up,” the instructor said. “One partner stand behind the other, it’s time to learn the Heimlich.”

Adrien moved to stand behind Marinette as she rose from her seat. “Do you trust me to save your life?” he said, a joking tone.

“Always,” she replied, but she was serious. He _had_ saved her life, hundreds of times, and she’d always trust him to save her again.

The instructor demonstrated the proper positioning of hands before saying, “Now, we’re not going to actually _do_ this, because you’ll wind your partner, and hurting someone is the opposite of what we’re trying to do, right? But I want you all the be able to feel _where_ you should be thrusting.”

Marinette’s cheeks burned as Adrien wrapped his arms around her. His hands rested on her stomach, gently pressing against her as he felt her stomach, just above her navel.

“Now, if you’re ever choking, I can save you,” he murmured, his lips dangerously close to her ear. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

“All right, partners, switch positions!” the instructor called.

Marinette stood behind Adrien then, feeling ridiculously short. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling for the right spot. Her cheek was pressed to his back, and she could feel him breathing, smooth and steady and _comforting_.

“You’ve got it,” he said. “But I’ve always known you’ll be there to save me.”

She was _so_ glad he couldn’t see how red he made her.

“All right!” the instructor said. “Stay with your partners—it’s time to learn CPR.”

**

_Perform CPR_

Okay, Adrien could handle this. He’d managed the rest of the class pretty well, even holding Marinette in his arms.

Did the instructor _have_ to talk about “thrusting” during that part, though?

He could do CPR. Mouth to mouth. Practicing with Marinette. Her mouth. His mouth. His hands on her _chest_ …

“One person from each group come up and get a dummy,” the instructor said. “You’ll take turns.”

Oh. A dummy. That’s all he had to put his lips on. That was…honestly a disappointment, but a relief at the same time.

Marinette stood to get the dummy, and held it up awkwardly as she returned. “Say hello to Monsieur Corps!”

Adrien laughed. “I believe it’s supposed to be a woman, actually. Resusci Anne, based on a girl drowned in the Seine in the 1800s.”

“How do you even know that?”

“I-I think I read it on the internet one time,” he said, ignoring that ‘one time’ was the night before because he really wanted to do well in this class.

And, maybe, impress Marinette a little bit. But he definitely wasn’t going to say that.

Marinette practiced first, her mouth over the dummy’s as she counted long, deep breaths. Adrien was—definitely not jealous, that would be _ridiculous_ , but if he happened to find himself unconscious and Marinette was able to save him, he would _not_ be complaining.

“She lives!” Adrien cried joyfully after Marinette had given the dummy the appropriate amount of breaths and chest compressions. “You’re a lifesaver, my lady.”

Marinette glanced around at the nickname. “Don’t call me that!” she admonished. “Let’s see how well _you_ can save lives.”

The dummy’s mouth felt _weird_ under his lips, and he tried not to concentrate too hard on the fact that Marinette’s lips had just been there—but every anime-loving cell in his body was overjoyed at the indirect kiss.

“Adrien?” Marinette’s voice called him out from his reverie. “It’s just supposed to be two breaths. Not make out with it.”

He blushed a deep red. “Uh—yeah. Right.” Two breaths. Thirty chest compressions. Repeat.

“My hero!” Marinette said in a high pitched voice, her hand dramatically on her forehead as she swooned. “You saved her!”

“That’s what heroes do, isn’t it?” he shot back with a grin. “Now if you’re ever in trouble, I know I’ll be able to help you.”

“Is the thirty seconds of kissing first included in that?” she teased, though her cheeks went pink immediately at her words. “I mean—I—I trust you, Adrien. I always have.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, looping his arm around her shoulders. “If I kiss you, you’ll be conscious, I promise.”

She smiled at him, her cheeks pink and her lips slightly parted, and he wanted to kiss her _now_.

“Great job, everyone!” the instructor called. “You’ve all passed, so some up and get your certifications on your way out.”

Marinette’s hand brushed against Adrien’s as they walked together, and he let his fingers twine with hers. Her smile never faded.


End file.
